Roadtrippin’ Highway 1: Big Sur

It’s been a personal mission of mine for a few years now to drive the entire California coast. And probably the whole West Coast eventually. I’ve done this in a few separate sections over the years: first from Seattle to Vancouver in 2015, from Cannon Beach, OR up to and around the Olympic Peninsula in Washington back in 2017, from San Francisco to Crescent City, CA back in 2019, and this past April I had the opportunity to do a big southern section from Los Angeles to Monterey.

I had roughly 5 days to squeeze in the trip from LA to Monterey, Pinnacles National Park, and a weekend in Santa Rosa. But nonetheless, I was stoked to finally be able to visit Big Sur and it’s world renowned beauty. For this trip, I did probably the most in-depth technical research on my planned photography locations and shots than I’ve ever done. And I still ended up adding a location (ended up being my favorite spot of all!) while I was at the airport on my way out. A talented travel photographer that I follow on ig (reneeroaming) had just posted a blog post of a trip through Big Sur from the month before.

I’ll share the details and insights from my trip below. There is sooooo much more to see and do than what I’ll cover, but in my 1.5 days in Big Sur, these were the highlights.

General Big Sur Information

Drones. I spent A TON of time researching prior to the trip to see if I could use my drone in Big Sur. This place is a dream for a drone. Wild, rugged, remote, not-crowded. Everything you could want out of your drone production, this place has it. I’ve seen a lot of drone content from Big Sur, but I ended up leaving mine at home. Why? From everything I’ve found online, it seems as if drones likely aren’t allowed. I say likely, because I couldn’t find a strong/reputable source outlawing them. Most of the sources seemed to have a conflict of interest i.e. local, production drone operators. But I erred on the side of caution to respect the environment, and had so much to shoot anyway.
The weather and time of year. April is an amazing time to do this trip, and I think spring is the prime season to visit Big Sur. The vegetation is lush and vibrant. It’s warm enough to dip your feet in the ocean, but cool enough you’re not sweating. There is a nice sea breeze to give you that sweet ocean smell.
If you’re traveling with a lot of expensive gear, be aware of your environment and current conditions around security. In the two weeks leading up to my trip, there were three incidents in the Bay Area down to Santa Cruz of people getting their cars broken into, camera gear stolen, and/or held up at gunpoint. For this reason, I left my medium format gear at home.
Camping (car or tent) along Highway 1 is illegal here, so make sure you book a campsite or lodge ahead of time. There are few options inside Big Sur itself, and whichever you choose to do, is expensive. I camped for a night, and paid over $80 for a campsite, which was the cheapest option.
Make sure to gas up before going into Big Sur. I think the only option is in the town of Big Sur itself. Since I went at a time that gas prices were high across the country, I was regularly paying $6 a gallon. In Big Sur, a gallon was going for about $9.50.
Enjoy the time in this beautiful place! Take the back roads, stop at the overviews, let your curiosity guide you. Some of my favorite moments and pictures from this trip were from places I hadn’t planned to stop or didn’t know about. But I found them along the way, sometimes standing up on my brakes to slow down enough to make the turn without flipping the car. Live in the moment.

Santa Barbara and Butterfly Beach

My first stop of the journey was Santa Barbara. After getting to my hotel at 1:30am local, I got a few hours of trying-to-sleep, before heading up the road to photograph Butterfly Beach at sunrise. I was trying to capture the misty sunrise conditions at the beach, but the highway from Ventura (where I stayed) and Santa Barbara had other plans. Traffic turned my 25 minute drive into an hour and a half. So I caught the remnants of the good light, but didn’t get as much as I wanted. After firing away for 30 minutes at the beach, I went into town to grab a nice breakfast and coffee. If you’re looking for a cute little town outside of LA to post up for a little getaway, look no further than Santa Barbara.

Big Sur

This roughly 90 mile stretch of rugged coastline is world renowned for its plunging and dramatic cliffs, a seaside waterfall (tidefall), purple sand beach, and classic southern California vibes. Cell service is limited, further contributing to the isolated feeling you can find out here. Tourists from all over the world visit these cliffs and beaches, and certainly aren’t afraid to look directly into your camera before posting up right in the middle of your composition. The setting sun casts golden light over the coast for seemingly forever, before quietly disappearing beyond the horizon, leaving behind a beautiful and clear blue hour. A light breeze is constantly filling the air with a feeling of warmth, and the smell of salt, from the nearby Pacific. Even the rising sun, which is typically shielded from the coastline by the coastal mountains, leaves a harsh but warm light over the seaside cliffs. Everything about this place is amazing.

Amenities in Big Sur are extremely limited, so doing this trip requires some level of planning. However, if you’re looking to leave the hustle and bustle of life behind, this is an incredible place to do it.

Garrapata State Park

Ok, so this is technically still in Big Sur. But this place was worth its own little section. I was blown away by the landscape and endless compositions. I got here maybe around 8am, which was still too late to catch the nice soft light. But I embraced every one of the 90 minutes I got here (I had a farmer’s sunburn to prove it). Man, what I would do to come back and shoot in the evening with a full arsenal of lenses and ND filters…